Valokuvaaja Sofia Tapolan squashin maailman rankingykkösiä esittelevä upea näyttely, osa 1/5. Ensimmäisenä vuorossa on nelinkertainen maailmanmestari Amr Shabana.
Four-time World Champion Amr Shabana is one of the most experienced players on the PSA World Tour – and a crowd favourite all over the world. ‘The Maestro’ first showed his immense potential in 1997’s British Under-19 Open when a spirited display saw him finish runner-up at the hands of Ahmed Faizy. Two years later though, Shabana captured his first PSA World Tour title, winning the Puebla Open.
2003 was where Shabana really took off. Ranked as the number nine seed at the World Championship, he claimed a historic title after defeating Thierry Lincou in a tense showdown to become the first Egyptian ever to win the event – paving the way for a generation of dominance in the country.
Shabana reached the final of the British Open, one of the only major events he has yet to win, in 2004 but lost out to David Palmer, before storming to a second World Championship title in 2005 with a reverse on Palmer. 2006 saw Shabana win the Tournament of Champions and reach his zenith when he became the first Egyptian player to reach World No.1 in April of that year – a position he would hold on to for three years.
His third and fourth World Championships followed in the years thereafter while in January 2014, he became the oldest professional to win a PSA World Series event, defeating Gaultier in the Tournament of Champions final aged 34. This record lasted for 14 months before Nick Matthew triumphed at the 2015 Windy City Open to become the new record-holder.
